The Noncommercial Users Constituency (NCUC) believes that ICANN policies governing the publication of Whois data must be reformed, and quickly. The Operational Point of Contact Proposal ("OPoC Proposal") presented in this Whois Task Force Report is not perfect, but it is the only way to bring some consensus and closure to a problem that has festered for too long. ....

"... This year, the US Federal Trade Commission has announced that now in the US, online data mining is the number one crime. Privacy experts, in particular, EPIC, have testified that it is the Whois database that is one of the most significant contributors to this problem. We need to pay some attention to the security interests of ordinary, everyday Internet users who register domain names, and not just the large intellectual property rights holders. They have legal mechanisms at their disposal if someone is violating their rights. It's called due process of law. I really haven't heard any explanation for why legal due process should be circumvented in this case. ..."

Join ICANN's Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) on 5 Dec. at the ICANN Board Meeting in SÃ¡o Paulo, Brazil for a discussion on ICANN's Whois personal database policy and its implication for the privacy rights of Internet users.

Take a look at these two privacy workshops to be held at the Internet Governance Forum in Athens on 31 October 2006. i) "Privacy and Identity Matters" Chaired by Gus Hosein of the London School of Economics and Political Science, and, ii) "Privacy, Development, and Globalisation" Chaired by Ralf Bendrath of the University of Bremen and WSIS Privacy & Security Working Group. Read more.

The controversy over ICANN's "Whois" personal data policy, which conflicts with a number of national and international privacy guarantees, is the topic of an upcoming panel discussion sponsored by the New York Internet Society.
ICANN requires Internet domain name registrants to publish their personal information, like their home address and telephone number on the Internet in its "Whois" database. ICANN's policy has caused a lot of problems for people because spammers use the personal information, the data is used to engage in identity theft, to send bogus legal demands, and silence freedom of expression on the Internet.

BACKGROUNDER BY NONCOMMERCIAL USERS CONSTITUENCY International Data Protection Laws:
Comments to ICANN from Commissioners and Organizations Regarding WHOIS and the Protection of Privacy
(Original .PDF)

The Noncommercial Users Constituency (NCUC) feels that ICANN and the WHOIS TF must pay close attention to the authoritative formal written comments made by Data Protection Commissioners and their organizations. These opinions […]

Contribution Memorandum: Privacy Implications of WHOIS Database Policy
Submitted to the Secretariat of the Internet Governance Forum by the ICANN Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) For IGF Greece 2006, Athens, 30 October – 2 November, 2006
The Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) is the part of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) that represents the interests […]

A comparative analysis of national laws and how they relate to privacy and ICANN’s WhoIs policy. Nations analyzed include the United States, France, Australia, Japan, China, Spain, Israel, Italy, India, Jordan, Kuwait, Poland, and Barbados.